At 7:06 this morning, dispatchers with the Smith County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call reporting that the Austin Bank, located at 16909 Highway 155 South, had been robbed.

A small-framed black male who was wearing an ace bandage over his face held a female employee at gunpoint as she arrived for work and prepared to enter the building. The robber instructed the woman to take him into the bank. She complied, and the robber left the bank with an undetermined amount of money using her vehicle as the getaway car. The woman was not harmed.

“Smith County Sheriff's Office Detectives are working in conjunction with the FBI and the Texas Rangers on this robbery,” said Sheriff Larry Smith. “We need the public to be on the lookout for this vehicle and please call us immediately if they see it.”